AT&T’s “Idol” texts generate bad blood in the Blogosphere

Earlier this week, one-time San Antonio resident AT&T Inc. sent text messages to many of its subscribers promoting Tuesday night’s premier of “American Idol” — a show it sponsors.

The Dallas-based phone giant said it was sending the ad only to people who previously sent text messages to vote for “Idol” contants in the past or are “heavy texters.” All over the Blogosphere, however, are reports of customers who received the texts but don’t think they fit either category. Oops!

“AT&T is, to put it politely, misspeaking when it says it sent its pro-IDOL spam only to those who’d voted for IDOL contestants before or were heavy texters,” People Magazine film critic Leah Rozen wrote in an e-mail response to a New York Times blog post.

“Please keep holding the blowtorch to AT&T’s feet on sending out this kind of stupid excreta,” wrote Rozen, who said she’s never voted on “Idol” and sends less than the 200 monthly texts alotted under her plan.